Fastener driving device



July 20, 1937. H. J. HELLER 2,

FASTENER DRIVING DEVICE V Filed Oct. 10, 1935 s Sheets-Sheet 1 i7 40 it; 1? 7 537? .92

55 INVENTOR.

'FL/ Z5 29 Jfsnesxrr J." 10:41.5)?

k W/l/l/l/l/l B ATTORNEYS,

JulyZO, 1937. H. J. HELLER FASTENER DRIVING DEVICE Fil'ed Oct. 10, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. .JiE/e ERT .J. .JfELLE)? fiZtaWO/r ATTORNEY5 Patented July 20, 1937- UNITED STATES g resists ATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

In many industries and more particularly in the woodworking industry, it is the custom to utilize different types of fasteners which are driven into the wood for various purposes. For

instance for the purpose of providing strong permanent joints in all kinds of wood products, such as boxes, furniture, signs, shelving, etc., fasteners generally made of corrugated metal in different dimensions, and customarily referred to as corrugated fasteners, are utilized; fasteners of the indicated type are also extensively used in wood trim building operations. Such fasteners generally speaking are incapable of being driven into the wood to their intended position with a single blow of a hammer or the like, and require more or less careful and skillful manipulation during the operation of driving the same into place in order to properly position the same and to avoid splitting of the wood and preferably so as to countersink the fasteners to permit subsequent planing if the same should become necessary.

The instant invention relates to devices for driving fasteners of the indicated type and equivalent fastener elements all of which require a succession of hammer blows or the like to drive said fasteners or fastener elements into the Wood or its equivalent, and has for its object to provide a simple device whereby said fasteners may be automatically driven into place in a reliable 0 and efiicient manner without the necessity for exercising any particular skill in or supervision of the operation. Other more specific objects will appear from the description hereinafter and the features of novelty will be pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which show an example of the invention without defining its limits, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device in position for use; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section similar to Fig. 2 illustrating the parts in a different position; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a similar View on the line 55 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a cross section on the line 66 of Fig. 2; Fig. '7 is a detail section on the line 'l'l of Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a cross section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 2; Fig. 9 is a similar view on the line 99 of Fig. 2; Fig. 10 is a fragmentary section on the line I9l0 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a cross section on the line I l l I of Fig. 2; Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 11 and including an adapter whereby the device is adapted for accommodating fasteners of the various sizes and dimensions, and Fig. 13 is a perspective view of one form of said adapter.

In the form illustrated in the drawings the device comprises a housing consisting of two sections l5 and I6 separated by spacing members I! and secured together in the form of a unit in any suitable manner, as by means of screws I8 and dowels l9 (Figs. 8 and 9); the screws I8 and dowels l9 pass through openings provided in the spacing members i! as shown in Fig. 4 and thereby serve to also fix the latter in position as shown in Fig. 4. In the preferred arrangement index means in the form of markers 20 are provided on the spacing'members I1, similar markers 2| being provided upon the section l6 as the forward face of the device for the purpose to be more fully set forth hereinafter. The device, in the illustrated example, further includes a bottom plate 22 which is fastened to the sections l5 and 16 by suitable fastening means such as screws or the like and, in addition to its other functions to be referred to further on in the description, assists in securing the sections I5 .and I6 together; as shown in Fig. 2 the bottom plate 22 is provided with an opening 23 for the accommodation of successive fasteners as will appear more fully hereinafter.

As shown in Figs. 4, 6, 8, 11 and 12 the housing section I 5 consists of two parallel members a and b spaced apart to 'form a magazine or chamber 24 extending lengthwise of said section [5, the

latter at its free end being provided with an end plate 25 fixed in place in any conventional manner and serving to maintain the members a and b in proper spaced parallel relation; the end plate 25 is recessed at 26 in registry with the chamber 24 as shown clearlyin Fig. 1 and also in some of the other figures. The end plate 25 in addition is provided with a projection 21 extending into the'chamber' 24 for the accommodation of one'end of a spring 28, the other I end of which is connected with a similar pro-- jection 29 carried by a block 30 slidably mounted in the chamber 24 and formed with an inclined face 3| at its forward end as shown in-Figs. 2 and 3. a v

As illustrated in the drawings the device also includes horizontally movable slides 32 and 33 locatedgin end to end relation as shown in Fig. 4, suitable springs 34 being provided for developing a force tending to move the slide 33 in a direction away from the slide 32; to provide a continuity of surface and to prevent the formation of a straight open space betweensaid slides 32. and 33, the one slide may be formed with a slide as shown in Fig. 4. In addition the slide 53 is provided at its forward end with an inclined face 35, for the purpose to be more fully set forth hereinafter. With the arrangement described and shown in the drawings the slide 32 bears against the end plate 25 and is substantially stationary while the slide 33 is resiliently movable relatively to the slide 32 under the influence of the springs to maintain the slides 32 and 33 in their intended positions the members a and b of the housing section [5 are provided with guide grooves 36 in which said slides are mounted and which also accommodate the springs 33 as illustrated in Fig. 6. In some instances a single spring-controlled slide may replace the slides 32 and 33 if this should be desired. When embodied in the device the slides 32 and 33 or equivalent means are in surface engagement with the block 36 and thus in addition to their other functionsserve to guide said block 3!] in its sliding movements in the chamber the block 39, as indicated in Fig. 2 resting and being movable upon the bottom plate 22.

In the illustrated example the means whereby the fasteners are driven into place consists of a plunger 3'! vertically movable between the opposed faces of the housing sections 55 and i5 and guided its vertical movements by the spacing members l'l as shown in Figs. 4 and 5; the pinnger 3'5 is generally in the form of a fiat plate and is provided in its one surface with a recess which faces the chamber Ed and forms a horizontal shoulder the recess 38 being arranged to receive successive fasteners and the shoulder 39 serving to adjust said fasteners into position to be driven into place. The plunger 3? is carried by and movable with an impact receiving member or striking head 40 which projects above the housing sections 55 and i8 and includes a shoulder 4i constituting a stop whereby the downward movement of said striking head and consequently of the plunger 37 is arrested; a cover plate 4 2 is conveniently fastened in place on the housing section 15 and is suitably slotted as indicated at 33 in l to assist in guiding the striking head ll and plunger in their vertical movements. The striking head 40 is formed with 2. depending extension having a recess R5 for the accommodation of a coil spring is which has its lower end seated in the recess L l of a plate :28 fastened in any conventional manner to the bottom plate 22 shown in Figs. 2 and 3; the spring 16 tends to move the striking head 19 and plun er 3'? upwards and to restore these elements to their normal positions.

In the operation of the device the plunger 37 and with it the striking head ll is driven downwardly in successive steps by repeated blows of a hammer or similar instrument upon said striking head 40 tohereby drive the fastener into its intended position in the wood with which it is to be combined. In order to prevent the plunger 3'! and striking head 4*) from returning upwardly to their original positions after each hammer biow or the like, a suitable means is provided for maintaining the striking head i and the plunger in the position to which it is driven by each impact of the hanm r or its equivalent. In the illustrated example is means comprises a movable wedge 59 provided its lower end with a recess for the reception of one end of a spring 5! which exerts a lifting action upon the wedge as will be clear from the illustration in Fig. 2; the lower end of the spring 5! is seated in a recess 52 of the previously mentioned plate 48.

The inclined face of the wedge 49 is in surface engagement with the opposed inclined face of a stationary wedge 53 which may be secured in proper position in any suitable manner as by means of pins 54; in order to provide for adjustment to compensate for wear, the wedge 53 preferably rests upon a plurality of shims 55 which likewise may be fixed in place by the aforesaid pins 54 or other equivalent means whereby the stationary wedge 53 is secured in position. With the arrangement set forth and during normal operative periods of the device the spring 5| will force the wedge 49 upwardly and the latter in co-operation with the stationary wedge 53 will be forced into surface engagement with the extension 44 of the striking head, it being understood that the frictional engagement between the wedge 39 and said extension &4 is

,sufiicient to maintain the striking head iii and plunger 37 in any position to which the striking head it may be driven as the result of a hammer blow or its equivalent. As Wear occurs on the inclined surface of the wedges Q9 and 53, the shims 55 may be transferred from beneath the wedge 53 to the top thereof to thereby adjust the position of said Wedge 53 to whatever extent may be necessary to compensate for the aforesaid Wear.

The device further includes means for intentionally relieving the striking head 10 from the restraining influence of the wedge 6-9 to permit the spring 36 to restore said striking head and plunger 3'! to the original elevated position. In the form shown in the drawings this means comprises a wedge releasing member 55 which is located in a recess 51 of the cover plate 42 and is pivotally mounted in said cover plate by means of a rod 53 which extends laterally of said cover plate 42 and carries a depending member 59 projecting into a notch 53 of a controlling member 8i as shown in Fig. 10. The member t! is slidably mounted in a groove 62 formed in the housing sections it: and i6 and at its one end provided with a finger-piece or projection 553 (F g. 1) accessible exteriorly of the device for open g the controlling member 6i at will. The controlling member 61 may be maintained in the groove 62 in any suitable manner as by means of piate 64 secured in place upon the housing sections l5 and iii in any convenient manner as by means of screws or equivalent fastening means. In Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings the wedge releasing member 55 occupies a position in which the movable wedge 65 is depressed and maintained out of contact with the extension 2:3 of the striking head,

i8, so that the latter and the plunger 3i are free to rise under the influence of the spring In addition to the parts so far described, the device includes a magazine follower 35 which is dimensioned transversely to slidably fit the chamber 26 and is provided at its opposite sides with ribs 65 extending into grooves 6? formed in the members a and b of the housing section 5 whereby said magazine foilower 55 is capable of sliding in directions lengthwise of the said chamber 25. At their outer end portions the grooves are en larged for the accommodation of springs connected at one end with adjustable holding screws rotatably mounted the housing section it, each spring 58 at its opposite end being suitably connected with the magazine foliower ('53 as by means of screws '59. With the arrangement described the springs 68 tend at all times to draw the magazine follower 65 in a direction toward the plunger 31 as is clearly shown in Fig. 5 of th masts provided with a handle or finger-piece H as illustrated in the drawings. In 'order to retain the magazine follower 65 in an inoperative position at one end of the device during loading thereof, a suitable looking or latchmeans is provided; in the form shown in the illustrated example this locking or latching means comprises a vertically movable plunger 12 (Figs. 11 and 12) mounted in a recess '13 provided for instance in the member a, of the housing section l51and influenced by a spring 14 whereby said plunger 12 is maintained in and returned to a raised position. The plunger 12 is extended upwardly in the form of a latch 15 which projects upwardly beyond the housing section 15 and terminates in an operating head or the like it as shown in Fig. 11. The latch 15 is recessed as indicated at 11 to form a locking shoulder 18 which engages the lower surface of one of the ribs 66 and is adapted to snap into a notch 19 formed on the lower surface of said rib 66 as shown in Fig. 7 to thereby lock the magazine follower 65 in said inoperative position during insertion of a supply of fasteners into the device.

As previously stated, the device is designed primarily for driving fasteners of thecorrugated fastener type which in practice generally are driven into the wood in position to span the joints between two sections of wood to thereby strengthen said joints. These corrugated fasteners are arranged in stacks preferably'held together for convenient handling, for instance, by means of soft metallic wires and are introduced into the chamber 24 of the device Withthe lower'penetrating edges thereof resting upon the slides 32 and 33, it being understood that the transverse dimension of the chamber 24 is designed to accommodate a predetermined size of the aforesaid fasteners, which dimension may correspond to the largest size of fasteners which the device is intended to accommodate. During the introduction of the fasteners the magazine follower .65 is held in its inoperative position at a distance from the plunger 31 by means of the locking shoulder 18 and the co-operating notch 19.

draw the magazine follower 65 against the terminal fastener at one end of the stack and at the same time will force the terminal fastener at the other end of the stack into the recess 38 and immediately beneath the shoulder 39" of the plunger 31. It will be understood that the soft metallic wires whereby the fasteners are held together in the stack are progressively cut as successive fasteners are released from the stack by the action of the driving means.

In order to properly accommodate fasteners of varying dimensions, an adapter may be provided for combination with the device, an example of such adapter being illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13. As shown the adapter comprises a body 80 dimensioned to fit into the chamber 24 and adapted to rest upon the slides 32 and 33 as illustrated in Fig. 12. The adapter is further formed in its upper face with a recess 8! arranged to receive the fasteners in stacks as previously described. It will be obvious by providing adapters in which the recess 3! is of different transverse width and and dimensions may be accommodated in the device.

of different depth thatfasteners of various sizes To prepare the device for use, or in other words a to load the same, the magazine follower 65 is withdrawn or retracted by means of the fingerpiece H against the tension of the springs 63 until the locking shoulder 78 snaps into the notch E9 on the lower surface of the one rib 66. The magazine follower 65 is thus held in position at the left hand end of the device in Fig. 2 of the drawings, or at the right hand end of said device a'sit appears in'Fig. 1. A supply of fasteners A is then introduced into the chamber 24 in the space between the retracted magazine follower 65 and the plunger 31, said fasteners resting with their pointed ends upon the slides 32 and 33 and being arranged in the chamber 24 in the form of a horizontal stack which, as previously stated, may be held together by means of soft metallic wires. When a supply of fasteners A has been inserted in place, the locking shoulder 18 is released from the notch 19 by downward pressure upon the head or the like 16, to correspondingly shift the plunger 12 downwardly against the tension of the spring 14. As soon as the locking shoulder 78 has been removed from the notch 19 the springs 68 will draw the magazine follower 65 against the one end of the stack of fasteners A to thereby force the other end of said stack against the plunger 31 so that at this stage a terminal fastener A of the stack will lie in the recess 38 of said plunger 31 and beneath the shoulder 39 thereof as shown for instance in Fig. 2. It will be understood that the wedge releasing member 56 at this stage occupies an inoperative position in the recess 51, and that themovable wedge 49 is located in frictional engagement with the depending extension 44 of the striking head 40. In order to bring the terminal fastener A of the stack intoposition to be driven into the wooden element with which it is to be combined, thestriking head 40 is depressed for instance by means of a hammer blow or a succession of hammer blows to cause the shoulder 39 of the plunger- 31 to force said terminal fastener downwardly in front of the block which, under the influence of the spring 28 will finally force said terminal fastener into position beneath the plunger 31 as indicated at A in Fig. 2; as the terminal" fastener is thus shifted into position to be driven the pointed end thereof first engages the inclined face of the slide 33 and forces the same toward the slide 32 against the tension'of the spring34 (Fig. 4), or in the case of a single spring-controlled slide shifts the same against the tension of its spring. In either case, this operation removes the slide 33 or its equivalent from beneath said terminal fastener and permits the latter to engage the inclined face 3! of the block 30 which is forced toward the left in Fig. 2.

member 6| 7 through the medium ofthe finger-' piece 63 thereof to depress the movable wedge 49 and thereby move it outof engagement with the extension 44 of the striking head 48. The

latter and the plunger 31 are thereby released and are returned to their normalraised position.

When the shoulder 4| of ,the striking head.

by the action of the-spring 46. As soon as this restoration of the striking head 46 and plunger 31 has been accomplished the block 30 under the influence of the spring 28 will force the terminal fastener A beneath said plunger 31 to the position indicated at A as illustrated in Fig. 2. The wedge releasing member 56 is now adjusted back to its normal inoperative position to permit the movable wedge 49 to be again shifted into frictional engagement with the anvil extension Mil-whereupon the device is ready for its intended operation.

Assuming for instance that a number of fasteners A are to be successively driven into two contiguous wooden elements B to span the joint E" between the same at spaced intervals, the device is placed in position as indicatedin Fig.1, it being understood that the markers 2! at one end of said device serve as guides to properly position said device with respect to itstransverse relation to the joint B. The striking head 40 is then. subjected to repeated blows. for instance by means of a hammer C, the impacts of said hammer being delivered upon theupper end of the striking head at as illustrated in Fig. 1. At each blow upon the striking head 40 the action of the wedge 49 upon the extension 44 serves to hold the striking head 46 and the plunger 3'! in the position to which it is driven by the individual hammer blows. As the successive impacts are delivered upon the striking head 40 the fastener A will gradually be driven into the wood until finally the shoulder 41 of the striking head engages the top plate of the device which indicates to the operator that the driving of the fastener into the wooden elements B has been completed, the arrangement being such that at this stage the top of said fastener will be somewhat below the upper surface of the elements 13 to permit the same to be subsequently planed if this should be necessary. As the one fastener is thus being driven into place the next successive terminal fastener A will be removed from the stack in the chamber 2% by the action of the shoulder 39 and first by acting upon the inclined face 35 will force the slide 33 out of the way and then by acting upon the inclined face 3! will. similarly force the block 30 against the tension of the spring 28 so that when one fastener has been driven into its final position, a second or successive fastener will be positioned between the end of the block 30 and the depressed plunger 3? as illustrated in Fig. 3. At this stage the wedge releasing member 56 is actuated in the manner previously described to force the movable wedge 43 downwardly and out of contact with the anvil extension to thereby permit the spring 45 to return the striking head 48 and with it the plunger 3'! to their normal raised position. As soon as the lower end of the plunger 37 reaches the position illustrated in Fig. 2 the successive fastener A will be forced into place beneath the plunger 3? to the position indicated at A in Fig. 2 by the action of the block 3Q under the influence of the spring 28. The wedge releasing member 56 is now again adjusted to its inoperative position to permit the spring to readjust the movable Wedge 49 into frictional engagement with the anvil extension 44 whereupon the device is ready to drive the next succeeding fastener into place. To permit this to be done the device is moved lengthwise of the joint B to bring the next succeeding fastener A to the desired distance from the previously driven fastener A; this spacing may be facilitated. by the markers 20 which may serve in cooperation with previously driven fasteners which are visible, to indicate to the operator the exact .location which will be occupied by the succeeding again engages the top plate of the device and arrests further downward movement of the striking head 40 and the plunger 31.

It will be obvious that any number of successive fasteners A may be efficiently driven into place by the device and that said fasteners are held in accurate perpendicular relation to the elements with which they are being combined so as to avoid the possibility of splittingthe wood or of drivingsaid fasten s into improper positions into said elements. The striking head may either be operated by a manually manipulated hammer or the device may be incorporated in an apparatus for operation by a mechanically driven hammer, provision being made in either case to prevent inadvertent hammer blows from accidentally releasing the striking head and to thereby prevent a successive fastener from being shifted forwardly before a preceding fastener had been fully driven into position. The device may be made to accommodate fasteners of different widths and heighths by merely inserting the proper adapter 80 into place in the chamber 24 as illustrated by way of example in Fig. 12. The device is extremely simple in construction and requires absolutely no skill in its use and serves to overcome objections and disadvantages which have previously interfered with the eflicient use of fasteners of the type under discussion.

Various changes in the specific forms shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A fastener driving device comprising a housing including a magazine arranged to contain a stack of fasteners, a plunger provided with a shoulder adapted to remove terminal fasteners from said stack in succession, a spring controlled block for positioning successive fasteners to driving position beneath said plunger, a striking head associated with said plunger for receiving impacts whereby said plunger develops a driving force on the fastener when in driving position, a spring tending to restore said plunger to normal position, a stationary wedge, a movable wedge in operative relation to said stationary wedge, a spring whereby said movable wedge is shifted relatively to said stationary wedge and into frictional engagement with said plunger whereby the wedge and said plunger are held against restoration to normal position subsequent to each impact, a stop on said plunger arranged to arrest the driving action of said plunger when the fastener being driven has reached a predetermined position,

means for actuating said movable wedge to release said plunger to permit the latter to return to normal position, and a spring controlled maga- Zine follower whereby said stack of fasteners is shifted to present the terminal fasteners of said stack into operative relation to said shoulder on said plunger. a

2. A fastener driving device comprising a housing including a magazine arranged to contain a stack of fasteners, a plunger provided with a shoulder adapted to remove terminal fasteners from said stack in succession, a spring controlled block for positioning successive fasteners to driving position beneath said plunger, a striking head associated with said plunger for receiving impacts whereby said plunger develops a driving force on the fastener when in driving position, a spring tending to restore said plunger to normal position, a stationary wedge, a movable wedge in operative relation to said stationary wedge, a spring whereby said movable wedge is shifted relatively to said stationary wedge and into frictional engagement with said plunger whereby the Wedge and said plunger are held against restoration to normal position subsequent to each impact, a stop on said plunger arranged to arrest the driving action of said plunger when the fastener being driven has reached a predetermined position, means for actuating said movable wedge to release said plunger to permit the latter to return to normal position, and means whereby said stack of fasteners is shifted to present the terminal fasteners into operative relation to sai shoulder of said plunger. 3. A fastener driving device comprising a housing including a magazine having a bottom for supporting a horizontal stack of fasteners, drivmeans for positioning successive fasteners in position to be driven by said driving means, and an adapter removably fitted into said magazine to constitutea false bottom therefor whereby said device is selectively adapted to accommodate fas teners of varying dimensions. 7

4. A fastener driving device comprising a housing including a magazine having a horizontal bottom for supporting a horizontal stack of fasteners, driving means for removing successive terminal fasteners from said stack and driving them into place, means for automatically adjusting said stack in said magazine to position successive terminal fasteners in operative relation to said driving means, and an adapter removably 

